LPL/LCK Slate Feb 27th, 2021

LGD v Rogue Warriors 

eStar Gaming v TOP esports

RNG v FunPlus Phoenix 

DRX v Hanwha Life Esports

T1 v DWG Kia  

Go to bed early friends because we have EXTRA League of Legends on this slate!  I cannot wait to see the absolutely amazing matchups in RNG v FPX, DRX v HLE, and of course the battle between the first LCK dynasty in T1 versus in what looks like the next LCK dynasty in DWG Kia. You can find a lot of ways to get great players into your lineups and you could see a lot of green tomorrow morning! 

Game #1 LGD v Rogue Warriors 

Cann’s Pick: LGD

Game #2: eStar Gaming v TOP esports

Cann’s Pick: TOP esports

Game #3: RNG v FunPlus Phoenix

Cann’s Pick: RNG

Game #4: DRX v Hanwha Life Esports

Cann’s Pick: Hanwha Life Esports

Game #5: T1 v DWG Kia

Cann’s Pick: DWG Kia

 

Fantasy Value Breakdown

Captain

Favorite: Ghost (DWG: $11,700) GALA had TWO  pentakills in their match against LSB and leads the entire LCK with 130 kills. He is really beginning the shed the perception that he is merely a game manager but instead he is an actual carry threat for DWG. T1 has some quality ADCs but their switch of the roster around can be a weakness for them in terms of synergy and day to day performance. Very expensive but has high amounts of FPPG output. 

Value Pick: GALA (RNG: $10,200) GALA is your leader in average FPPG for Saturday morning at a whopping 95.6. This is even with RNG dropping 5 games through their 8 series. He is the kill leader in the LPL with 113 kills btu also 119 assists and one of the best team kill participation rates in the league at 73.4%. I have a feeling that while I love FPX, their slipping my not be over yet and if they do fall to RNG, it will be because they could not contain GALA. 

Top Lane

Favorite: 369 (TES: $6,800) You pick 369 in this spot more for his team and your expectations of them rather than him as the player. There is really little difference between zs and 369 in play style and stats. Both are around 40 kills and both are at 2.9 KDA. They both love playing more tank/bruiser style champions 

Value Pick: Kingen (DRX: $5,400) With an average FPPG of 52.7, Kingen gets a lower pricetag because DRX are seen as the underdogs against HLE. While I do think HLE will win this match, I don’t think there is much risk here. While Morgan is a great player, Kingen won’t get sucked into the 1v1 trap that can happen in the top lane. Kingen plays super safe in the early game and just looks for late game fights (64% team kill participation and 146 assists). This is a great price for such a safe source of points. This series can easily go three games and even end up a DRX win in the end. Use this pick to choose one of those higher priced captain choices you want. 

Jungle

Favorite: Arthur (HLE: $7,000) This man is single handedly still making me question whether or not I am supposed to back up a Brinks truck to pay for a jungler. Most junglers are beginning to settle into a more farm heavy role and they look to create just enough plays to help facilitate their team getting a dragon or herald. Arthur? Nah, he likes to box it out. With a 3.5 and 66% team kill participation, he is one of the major threats for HLE and could cause a lot of problems for DRX’s Pyosik

Value Pick: Wei (RNG: $6,400) Two letters will determine whether or not this pick works out. Bo. If Bo is playing Wei is going to have a very difficult time in this matchup. Tian, upon his return to the lineup, did not perform well against Team WE where he went 2-8-9 (1.37 KDA).Early in the split Tian was a powerhouse so it will be interesting to see if he starts/plays at all in this series. 

Mid Lane

Favorite: Knight (TES: $7,800) In terms of all the mid laners in play for Saturday, Knight may not be the strongest outright but he has the easiest matchup in playing irma.Knight has 61 total kills in 15 games which gives him an average of about 4 kills a game. Is also the core carry for TES with a team kill share of almost 25% which makes this an even safer pick when choosing from different players in this match. 

Value Pick: SOLKA (DRX: $6,400) SOLKA is an odd player to figure out. He feels so incredibly underwhelming but then also has decent production numbers. He fits in perfectly with the control mage meta and is second for LCK mid laners with 158 assists. That being said, do not really expect huge kill numbers out of him, especially with him going up against Chovy.  

ADC

Favorite: Lwx (FPX: $7,600) With their struggles from earlier this week Lwx has slipped a little bit in the rankings among ADCs. He has 105 kills and 106 assists which are both impressive stats as well. He also has the highest average FPPG among the ADC players on this slate with 83.9. There is a big opportunity for a bounce back for FPX and for Lwx to get back on track for his possible MVP level split.

Value Pick: Gumayusi/Teddy (T1: $6,200/$6,400) I am sorry. I just don’t know which of these two ADCs will be playing. If you can wait up and see which one is playing, this is an absolute lock. Teddy has a 4.0 KDA and Gumayusi has a 4.8. Combined these two ADCs have 131 kills (this would be first in the LCK for kills) and 128 assists (this would be third in the LCK). My guess would be Gumayusi based on where they choose to use the different ADCs but just know that if you are blind choosing one of them, there is a risk they don’t play. 

Support

Favorite: Crisp (FPX: $5,200) Crisp has the second most assists for support in the LPL (199) and has a 4.4 KDA. He does so much for Lwx in the laning phase to make sure he gets ahead which explains his a little lower team kill participation rate (67.4%) but with the increased focus for FPX to make sure Lwx gets on line you can expect big points for Crisp. 

Value Pick: Ming (RNG: $4,600) With so many different supports available it may seem odd picking the value pick from the same game from the favorite. Here is my rationale, both of these team are so bottom focused that you know kills will take place here. I don't think there is a huge gap between the two teams in this area. Ming is currently your assist leader for LPL supports with 216 assists and he picks up so many of those assists in the early skirmishes where Gala gets ahead. For RNG to beat FPX, the bot lane needs to show up. 

Team

Favorite: TOP Esports ($5,800) The only real statistic that eStar has over TES is their total team kills (271 v 246) but you know what else they have a lot more of and in a much larger margin? Deaths. They have over 307 where TES has 180. TES is averaging a gold differential at 15 minutes of +1,832. TES has finally hit their groove and while it doesn’t look as wild and reckless but instead more collected and planned out. I feel comfortable with this pick which is important with the heavier price tag here.  

Value Pick: T1 ($4,000) Is it likely that T1 beats DWG tomorrow? No. Could they? Absolutely. If you have watched any of DWG’s matches, they are not without flaw. In fact they should have been taken to three games by LSB (LSB lost it on one random pick leading into a team fight wipe for the win). T1 has a higher early game rating and gold differential at 15 minutes compared to DWG as well as a big focus on neutral objectives like dragons and heralds. This should be a close series and could be a great upset to cash in on.

Cann’s Example Lineup

DraftKings Classic 

$50,000 Salary Cap

Captain (x1.5): Doinb ($10,500)

Alternate: Gala ($10,200)

Top: Nuguri ($6,000)

Jungle: Arthur ($7,000)

Alternate: Wei ($6,400)
Mid: Chovy ($7,600)

ADC: Lwx ($7,600)

Alternate: Deft ($7,400)

Support: Crisp ($5,200)

Team: LGD ($5,000)